École Militaire

“ A military school was created, where young men from all the departments were habituated to the exercise of arms and the life of a camp. It was called L'École de Mars. Its object was not to form officers, but intelligent soldiers, who, spread in the French armies, should soon render them the most enlightened of Europe, as they were already the most inured to the hardships of war. ”

“ The pupils who are sent thither as officers, after having been examined, apply their knowledge to the arts, to the construction of works, and to the manœuvres of war dependent on artillery. Each school, in which the pupils must remain two years longer, is under the superintendance of a general of brigade of the corps. ”

“ There are in addition schools of musketry, a school for instruction in machine-gun practice, instruction in infantry battalion practice, a school of military gymnastics, of military equitation, officers’ riding-schools, a military technical academy at Charlottenburg, where officers may study the technical engineering and communication services, an artillery and engineer school at Munich, a field-artillery school of gunnery, a foot-artillery school of gunnery, a cavalry telegraph school, and the staff colleges. ”

“ The subject of military schools suggests some discussion of military training in the public schools and colleges and in private schools. In general the private schools in America that introduce military training aim to some extent to prepare students for entrance to the government’s military schools. But military drill is a feature of the state colleges of the west and south and of colleges of agriculture and mechanic arts, as also of many public-school systems. ”

“ The age of admission is the same as for the Polytechnic School, and pupils are entitled to partial or entire state aid if they need it, as are also those of the Polytechnic. The course of instruction is two years, at the end of which time the more promising students pass to the Staff School, and thence, after a thorough course, to the état-major of the army; the remaining students pass as subalterns into the cavalry and infantry, selecting the arm of the service in which they desire to serve according to the order of merit in which they graduate. ”

“ But not only should there be such special military schools—one in every State, but there should also be institutions where a sufficient number of young men can get the preliminary education necessary to fit them to enter the schools of officers—an education which, beside being as complete and thorough a literary one as officers ought to have, should also be such in point of military discipline and instruction as shall lay a good foundation for building themselves up and perfecting themselves as officers by subsequent instruction and experience. ”

“ Along with studying tactical and strategic problems and planning for the mobilization of troops, the War College supervised the courses and methods of instruction at post and special service schools and at the General Service and Staff College. ”

“ The object of the War School is to give Officers of all arms an education for higher duties, especially for those of the Staff and of the Upper Adjutant Department.55
Any Subaltern Officer of the active army, without distinction of arms, may claim admission into the War School, provided he is above twenty-one and under twenty-six years old, is unmarried, and has served as Officer uninterruptedly and with distinction two years at least with the troops, and, provided, finally, he has passed the prescribed preliminary examination. ”

“ The Military Academy continues to answer all the purposes of its establishment, and not only furnishes well-educated officers to the Army, but serves to diffuse throughout the mass of our citizens individuals possessed of military knowledge and the scientific attainments of civil and military engineering. ”

“ Among the more academic subjects are military history and tactics, field sketching and topography, field engineering, military law and administration, and elementary hygiene. A great deal of practical work is done, and the course of two years is designed to fit a young officer, on joining his regiment, to undertake the entire charge and training of his troop or platoon. At the Royal Military Academy extra subjects, such as artillery work and more advanced engineering, are also taught. ”

“ The advanced military studies course, roughly comparable to the US National War College is open to selected army and air force general officers, admirals, and high-ranking civilians in government service. The joint staff course, somewhat comparable to the US Armed Forces Staff College, is offered to selected majors and lieutenant colonels of the army and air force and to lieutenant commanders and commanders of the navy, all of whom must be graduates of a service staff school. ”

“ Others advise, instead of this National Academy, that a course of military instruction be added to our colleges. But in this way students would only pick up a smattering of military science, in connection with a dozen other sciences, that would be quite useless in time of war. ”

“ Military instruction should invariably be communicated to a pupil, whether officer or soldier, in an easy, agreeable, and rather captivating manner, so as to give him a relish for the service. For a few lessons given in a clear and perspicuous manner, and aided by a few examples from the Rules and Regulations, will forward the studies of the recruit much more than a long period of harassing and incessant drill. Too much of the latter thaws the zeal, and lessens the inclination of the pupil to please. ”

“ The ground forces school system includes training facilities for all arms and services and offers instruction at every level. The major components of line units maintain their own schools, in which politically reliable and promising candidates from the conscript ranks are trained as NCOs, technicians, and specialists. Outstanding men from the unit schools, as well as specially qualified civilians who volunteer, are sent to technical service schools and officer candidate schools. ”

“ The reports of the Military Academy at West Point and the several schools for special instruction of officers show marked advance in the education of the Army and a commendable ambition among its officers to excel in the military profession and to fit themselves for the highest service to the country. ”

“ Officer candidates for the naval infantry, engineering, and supply corps also take a 5-year course at the Naval Academy but concentrate on subjects dealing with their special fields and undergo less shipboard training. Basic training of enlisted men devotes much time to non-naval subjects and to elementary education. Specialist schools, most of which have courses for both enlisted men and officers, offer training in various technical fields, including gunnery, electronics, communications, engineering, and amphibious warfare. ”

“ The Cadet Corps, or Military Schools, receive their pupils young, and impart a general as well as a scientific education, preparatory to entering the Special Schools of Application either for Engineer, or Artillery, and later in years and experience, the Staff School. ”

“ At the end of October there are annual manœuvres, and the graduation ceremony is in November, when the Emperor makes a point of being present. There is a Military staff college, designed to give further instruction in the higher branches of military science to junior officers of promise. Its students are lieutenants and sub-lieutenants of all arms who have been at least two years with their regiments or battalions, and whose physical health, intellectual qualifications, morals, diligence, and general conduct have shown them to be suitable recipients of the higher training. ”

“ The condition of the Army itself, as relates to the officers and men, in science and discipline is highly respectable. The Military Academy, on which the Army essentially rests, and to which it is much indebted for this state of improvement, has attained, in comparison with any other institution of a like kind, a high degree of perfection. Experience, however, has shewn that the dispersed condition of the corps of artillery is unfavorable to the discipline of that important branch of the military establishment. ”

“ The War Academy has for its object the higher scientific and practical education of officers, in every branch of the military profession, on the staff, as also of the higher adjutants. It aims also at the development of all military scientific subjects.
The War Academy has three courses, each lasting nine months, and the intervals are employed in practical exercises.
The number of students in one course must, as a rule, not exceed twelve, and every upper or sub-lieutenant who has served not less than four years with the troops, can attend the academy. ”

“ From his experience in the War of 1812 and service on Indian campaigns, General Andrew Jackson while President of the United States in a message to Congress said:
“I recommend to your fostering care, as one of our safest means of national defense, the Military Academy. This institution has already exercised the happiest influence upon the moral and intellectual character of our Army; and such of the graduates from various causes may not pursue the profession of arms will be scarcely less useful as citizens. ”

“ Officers of the permanent force are, in the main, graduates of the Royal Military College, Kingston, an institution second to none in the Empire. Field officers of Militia can also take a training course at the college, but the numbers who can avail themselves of this opportunity are limited. ”

“ We are inclined to believe that the usefulness of the Military Academy at West Point,—which has furnished so large a proportion of the best civil engineers, lawyers, physicians, and divines, as well as the soldiers who and who alone have conducted our armies to real glory,—we are inclined to believe that this justly celebrated school owes all its triumphs to its rigid laws and independence of popular clamor.
Discipline is every thing. ”

“ A better knowledge of the exact sciences has been carried into the colleges; the railroads and canals have been built by engineers ready furnished by the government; and now when half a million of men have been suddenly called to war, they have been largely officered by the graduates of West Point. Here we may briefly allude to the most grave fact which has been urged against the Military Academy. The best officers of the rebel army were educated there. ”

“ It has been alleged by many of the opponents of the West Point Academy, that military instruction is of little or no advantage to a general;—that in the wars of Napoleon, and in the American Revolution, and the American war of 1812, armies were generally led to victory by men without a military education, and unacquainted with military science;—and that in the event of another war in this country, we must seek our generals in the ranks of civil life, rather than among the graduates of our Military Academy. ”

“ GENERAL MILITARY EDUCATION INDISPENSABLE A system of general military education should of course include elementary training in all the schools, public and private, so that every boy, before he is sixteen years old, would know how to use the rifled musket in ranks, and be familiar with the simple evolutions of a company and battalion. ”

“ If any other youth desired to pursue the same studies at the military academy, they might be admitted, only subsisting themselves. Those students should be instructed in what is usually called military discipline, tactics, and the theory and practice of fortification and gunnery. The commandant and one or two other officers of the standing regiment, and the engineers, making West Point their general residence, would be the masters of the academy ”

“ The few 728 who now remain have seen more than half a century’s service in useful employments. Perhaps it should be mentioned to the advantage of the Military Academy, as a school of physical education, that at the end of half a century, twenty of its pupils out of eighty-nine, should be yet alive. ”

“ An experience of nearly fifteen years in military instruction, has convinced me, that any of our regiments of militia, in their present state of discipline, if brought into the field and placed under competent officers, could, by three weeks instruction, be prepared for discharging all the duties of regular troops. The instruction, then, in time of peace, of the officers, becomes an object of great importance;—that of the privates is of secondary consideration. There is no difficulty in making soldiers, when officers understand their duty, and are disposed to perform it. ”

“ The form of the discipline of the school is military, but a spirit of mildness tempers it, suiting it to the age of the pupils. The boys, in general, are divided into four companies, each of which has a commandant, (a non-commissioned officer of the highest grade,) who has charge of the instruction in military exercises, and ranks with the teachers of the school. These companies form a battalion, and are drilled without arms, and inspected by the director, or an officer appointed by him. ”

“ The work of the Army consists of study and practice, instruction and drill. It is an incessant school. There are officers' school, non-commissioned officers' school, school of the soldier, school of the company, school of the battalion, post school,—besides drills and lectures without number. The actual scientific information imparted to the enlisted men is considerable. ”